When you hear someone talk about the benefits of freezer meals, does it sound like this complicated, time-consuming thing you could never actually accomplish?

That’s exactly where I was about 2 years ago.  A colleague of mine was always talking about these “Freezer Meals” she had a stockpile of for her family, and she was trying to gear up to do her quarterly freezer meal prep.

I was pregnant with my first child and was concerned about what we were going to eat while I was recovering post-baby.  To give you some of my background: I HATE cooking. A normal dinner for me could be three nights in a row of a bowl of Lucky Charms, or if I was feeling fancy, I would have scrambled eggs on a bagel.  I was definitely not skilled in making full “meals” and had absolutely zero desire to do so.

So, because we were seriously financially strapped, I knew we had to have meals ready for the postpartum period or we would be eating out every single day (husband is also not a fan of cooking).  This led to me forcing myself to try freezer meals to prevent us from blowing our food budget with a newborn at home.

I have to tell you, after trying freezer meals once, I was totally hooked.  I fell in love with them for so many reasons! If you find you could benefit from any of these things I experienced with freezer meals, then check out my step-by-step instructions for making freezer meals for the next phase of adding them to your life.

Related Posts:

How to do Bulk Cooking Freezer Meals From Start to Finish

How to Integrate Make-Ahead Freezer Meals Into Your Daily Cooking From Start to Finish

What Can Freezer Meals Do For You?

1.  Budget-friendly

Based on my calculations (averaged over the time I have made these meals), each serving has a cost of $0.75.  Can you buy a lunch or dinner for that? Heck no! These things are dirt cheap, and there is nothing I love more than cheap.

Another awesome thing is, when you have freezer meals prepared, it will decrease the number of meals you need to make for the next month.  This will allow you to decrease your grocery budget for the next month. Win!

2.  Keep you out of the drive-through

If you are determined to not eat out but know you are going to have busy nights or times during the month you just don’t feel like cooking, freezer meals will save you!  

Even if I have a plan for the entire month of meals and I have taken into account days I know will be insane, I will still have days I just don’t want to cook.  In the past, we would have just said, “okay let’s just order dominos (this girl loves her some garlic cheesy bread!).” We would have spent $40 on one meal and not even thought twice about it.  

Now, instead of talking about what we could order, we can just look in the freezer and pick something out to eat.  So much more convenient, less effort (even than takeout – literally push the button on your oven to turn it on) and way cheaper!

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3.  Decrease stress

This may sound crazy, but knowing you have freezer meals for backup will lower your stress level one-million times.  Instead of your husband asking you what’s for dinner and you want to murder him for not just figuring that out for both of you, there will be a lovely meal already waiting to be eaten for those times you haven’t planned.

I cannot even tell you how many times I had just gotten in my car after work, called my husband, and he would ask me, “What are we having for dinner?”  It immediately made me anxious, stressed and slightly angry. Why was this always my responsibility? Why do I want to cook when I get home from work (like I said, I could eat a bowl of cereal and be perfectly happy)?

Here’s the thing, with freezer meals, I can now just say, “I didn’t have anything planned, but there should be a meal in the freezer you can pick out.”  No more stress, no more anxiety. It’s fantastic.

4. Your husband can easily “make” dinner

Like I said above, your husband can easily be in charge of dinner with usually little argument over it.  All he has to do is pick out a meal (unless you have already done that), let it thaw and put it in the oven.  

I have yet to find anything else that is easier than this and doesn’t make my husband complain (and he complains about Hamburger Helper).  This is basically a one-step cooking process for them, and it can’t be beaten!

5.  Meal option in a pinch if plans change

If you are having an impromptu gathering at your home, don’t have time to get more groceries, or your grocery budget is spent for the month, grab a freezer meal!  Don’t ever worry about the unexpected company again.

You will always have a meal ready if needed.

Freezer meals may seem like something meant for supermoms, people with endless budgets or people who love cooking and have tons of time.  I am proof that you don’t have to have a lot of time, money or children to “qualify” to make freezer meals.  These things are a total game-changer and safety net for your budget, marriage, and sanity.

If you are pumped about this and want to know more, I can tell you:

How to Do Freezer Meals from Start to Finish: Bulk Cooking

How to Do Freezer Meals from Start to Finish: Integrated into Your Daily Cooking With No Added Time

How (& Why) to Successfully Meal Plan for One Month

For freezer meal beginners, I have found my favorite cookbook to be this one.  I still find I return to it over and over for every round of freezer meals I make.

Get Started!  It is going to be amazing!!

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